L for Luna
by Quatermass
Summary: Luna Lovegood holds a secret, or rather, her mother did. Long ago, her mother went not by the name of Pandora Lovegood...but Andromeda. What links a message from a distant world and a secret government project to the Lovegoods?


**FOREWORD**

 _One thing I enjoy is old British shows, particularly science fiction. My username comes from the Quatermass serials of the Fifties. And yet another seminal work of British science fiction was_ A for Andromeda _, which was created by the famous astronomer Fred Hoyle (in collaboration with John Elliot), a brilliant man who, sadly, was an idiot when it came to the Big Bang Theory (a term, ironically, he himself coined)._ A for Andromeda _, sadly, no longer exists in its original form, though the penultimate episode exists, along with a variety of clips from the various episodes, and telesnaps (primitive screenshots used by actors and directors as a means of showing off their work in the days before home video). The original serial was British actress Julie Christie's breakout role, though many of the actors would be familiar to those who watch British television. Two remakes, one Italian, the other a more recent British one, do exist, as does the entirety of the sequel,_ The Andromeda Breakthrough _._

 _I like to experiment at times, and I like to do things other people haven't done. There is a grand total of one_ A for Andromeda _fanfic on this website, three if you count those registered under the Italian remake. This will be the first crossover for that, along with the first crossover with Harry Potter. It is also my second oneshot, and the first not to deal with any shipping of the main character. It's more of a character study. It's also probably going to be one of my more obscure works, I'd bet._

 _Anyway, time for the usual disclaimers. First, there will be spoilers, especially for_ A for Andromeda _, but some for Harry Potter as well._

 _Finally, the following is a fan-based work._ A for Andromeda _and Harry Potter are the properties of their respective owners. Please support the official release. Otherwise, Luna will drive you mental. And I'm sure that's a short trip._

* * *

 **L FOR LUNA**

It began in 1970. Not that many people nowadays know about that. Oh, it was big news at the time, a radioed message from the Andromeda Nebula. But given the subsequent fuss and cover-ups, there are few alive who remember it who think of it as anything but a hoax. A message that contained the code for a computer program, a program that had the instructions to build a sophisticated computer and how to program it. Said computer synthesised a bizarre lifeform at first, and then, hypnotised a young computer scientist, Christine, into grasping a pair of terminals, killing her. The computer then gave instructions for the synthesis of another lifeform, which turned out to be an enhanced clone of Christine, with blonde hair instead of the black of Christine. This clone, fully grown and capable of feats of rapid learning, was dubbed Andromeda.

One of the key scientists involved in the project, John Fleming, had begun to have doubts about the project for some time, despite being enthusiastic about it at first. With the military having taken over much of the project, he tried to sabotage the computer. He eventually succeeded with the help of biologist Madeline Dawnay, by convincing the computer Andromeda was dead. But the computer soon realised the trick, and sabotaged a special medical treatment it was developing in its turn. It then ordered Andromeda to try and murder Fleming, but Andromeda failed, and was torn between her loyalty to the computer and her curiosity about her own humanity. Fleming eventually destroyed the computer, and freed from its influence, Andromeda destroyed the backup plans.

Through a series of events, Fleming, Dawnay, and Andromeda would end up in Azaran, a small country in the Middle East, and whose government was effectively controlled by the consortium known as Intel. Intel, through their sinister agent Kaufmann, had made attempts to steal the secrets of the computer before, and it seemed that they had succeeded. Unfortunately, Fleming's sabotage of the original computer had started a series of events that nearly led to the destruction of life on Earth. Eventually, the second computer was stopped, as were the ambitions of Intel and the actions of the Andromedans.

But there are few happily ever-afters in life. As Fleming and Andromeda tried to settle down in London after years on the run, agents of the remnants of Intel attacked, intending to kidnap Andromeda. Fleming, they decided, was dispensable. So, in front of Andromeda's horrified eyes, Fleming was murdered.

It was something of a miscalculation. Then again, they didn't know some important facts.

The first was that magic existed, hidden from the mundane population. And it could be genetically inherited.

The second was that Christie, the woman who became the basis for Andromeda's body, was a Squib, a woman born to magical parents who had no magic of her own. In Christie's particular case, though, the genes that bestowed magic were merely dormant than non-existent, a minor quirk of genetics that meant that, under the right circumstances, they might become active again.

The third was that Andromeda, having been based on Christie down to her very DNA, but enhanced by the first computer, had those very genes, and all that was needed to reactivate them was a spark. Fleming's demise was that spark.

When the Aurors arrived, they found several Muggles dead, one by gunshot wounds, the others by various magical means, and a young, blonde-haired woman, sobbing. They wrote it off as self-defence, but Andromeda was soon left adrift in a world she had never heard of before. It was only quite by chance, when she was walking through Diagon Alley out of curiosity (anything to fill the void left by Fleming's death), that she ran into Xenophilus Lovegood. He had taken one look at her, and had said, " _You've come from a very long way away, haven't you?_ "

Fear nearly spurred her to run, then and there. But then, he held up his hands in apology. After some time on the run with Fleming, Andromeda had developed instincts on who to trust. And she eventually realised that Xenophilus Lovegood was a good man. Odd, eccentric, but good.

As she was running out of money to stay at a hotel, Lovegood offered his own home. And Andromeda, after some thought, accepted.

* * *

As additional surety against Intel or anyone else finding her, Andromeda decided to change her name. She decided on Pandora for a variety of reasons. In Ancient Greek, 'pandora' meant 'the all-giving'. She was also the first woman created, and created to be a punishment against humanity by the gods. Having been the created agent of the Andromedans, Andromeda sympathised with Pandora.

So Andromeda became Pandora Lovegood. And on the 13th of February, 1981, she gave birth to Luna Lovegood, a child of magic and science, caught between human and alien, and in the middle of a magical war over the supposed purity of blood. Eight months later, the Potter family was betrayed, and only Harry survived that night intact, famous before he was out of nappies. The Boy Who Lived.

Years passed, and the fame of Harry Potter grew, as well as the intrigue around him. Where was he raised? How powerful was his magic (it would have to be extraordinary, of course, to survive the Killing Curse and vanquish Voldemort)? And, in a question that would be most important many a witch of his generation, who would be the witch to win his heart?

Luna was one of the few not captivated by the story of Harry Potter. Oh, she was interested in it, true, but from a slightly more detached way, compared to her best friend, Ginevra 'Ginny' Weasley. She found his survival an interesting intellectual puzzle, and certainly agreed with her parents that Harry's survival was due to some obscure ritual one or both of Harry's own parents uncovered.

Luna grew up an intelligent, if somewhat scatter-brained and fantasising child. Pandora knew that her own makeup was to blame. She was designed to be an agent of the Andromedan computer, never meant to breed. Luna had some small degree of alien tissue within her, as well as pre-programmed memories from her genes, and many of the fictitious animals she spoke of, Pandora knew, were actually native wildlife of that world the Andromedan signal had come from.

Of course, Xenophilus Lovegood himself was more than a little scatter-brained, and Magical Britain's foremost conspiracy theorist. He headed up the _Quibbler_ , a magazine filled with such fantasies, which rarely had more than a small grain of truth within. But she loved him because, despite his fantasist tendencies, there was something of the crusading spirit of Fleming about him, and he was a kind and loving man as well.

Pandora and Luna had a mental link of sorts, presumably due to the Andromedan influence. Not that much, they needed to consciously engage it to speak via their minds. But it added a strength to the bond between mother and daughter.

Pandora was mostly self-taught about magic, but she found she understood things instinctively. She guessed part of the reason was her ability to rapidly learn that helped her when she grew so swiftly after she was created by Dawnay and her team. In fact, she had taken to experimenting with spellcrafting.

It was the year before her darling daughter was to attend Hogwarts when it happened. A spell went wrong, badly. In desperation, her daughter, who was nearby, was shoved aside by Pandora, before the spell smashed into her. It was an agonising death. But as she fell to the floor, Pandora Lovegood, once Andromeda, slave to a machine, felt her daughter's distress through their link. As if by instinct, she pushed something of herself into that link. Then, the rest of her was eaten by the void.

* * *

There was little Luna Lovegood was frightened of. Her mother had died, but in a way, her ghost remained with her, soothing her and comforting her, even when the Nargles got particularly mischievous and stole things from her.

Not that she told anyone about her mother living in her head. They already looked askance at her for her ways. Only Ginny was a true friend, the only person to call her 'Loony' with any kind of affection. She hadn't yet encountered Harry or his friends, other than Ron, who was Ginny's brother. But she had heard of adventures he had within Hogwarts, like that mess with the Basilisk, Sirius Black's escape, and the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

She knew Voldemort was back, just as much as she knew that the Ministry would deny it all the way. She just stayed silent, and observed as they trashed Harry's reputation needlessly. But should she ever be asked to give help to Harry, then she would. And her mother, well, the shade that was her mother. An awareness of an awareness sitting in her mind.

Then, on the way to her fourth year, the door opened. Luna had been reading the Quibbler upside down (for the challenge), and looked up when she heard Ginny saying, "Hi, Luna. Is it okay if we take these seats?"

Luna looked at them. She noted the dumpy boy, Neville Longbottom she would learn. There was no mistaking who the boy with the messy dark hair, green eyes, and scar on his forehead was. She nodded her assent.

"Thanks," Ginny said with a grateful smile.

As they settled, Luna stared at Harry, scrutinising him. Within her mind, her mother gasped in shock. The appearance was not the same, Harry didn't have the dark eyes and perpetually-worried and anxious features, but there was something about him…

Was Harry, born some years after Fleming's death, his very reincarnation? That fire, that righteous fire, seemed to certainly burn within those emerald eyes. Eyes which now seemed distinctly uncomfortable with her scrutiny.

"Had a good summer, Luna?" Ginny asked.

Luna replied, "Yes. Yes, it was quite enjoyable, you know. _You're_ Harry Potter."

"I know I am," Harry replied. But there was something in his eyes that had some sort of relief. Here, he was on familiar ground. Being known for being known. He probably also felt relieved that she didn't seem to believe the smear campaign of the Ministry.

Luna smiled to herself. This year, she thought, might be truly interesting…

 **ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Not much to say here. This was just a weird notion that popped into my head. More of a novelty story. Hope that you enjoyed it anyway.**


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